UNDER-FIRE care charity Quarriers has been slammed for failing to complete a programme of repairs to a children’s graveyard.

Last September, the organisation replaced missing headstones on 338 unmarked graves following a campaign by the Quarriers Warriors Justice for Children Army, which represents historical victims of sex abuse at the former orphanage.

The group now claim the charity has reneged on promises to make additional improvements to Nittingshill Cemetery at Quarriers Village, Bridge of Weir, where the children were laid to rest.

It is still waiting for graffiti scrawled on a memorial plaque to be removed and a screen to be placed over it to prevent further vandalism.

Members also say the names of three of the 338 children buried in the cemetery are missing from the plaque and need to be added.

And they claim Quarriers has yet to fulfil a promise to repair the cemetery gate, in a bid to prevent dog fouling, and to erect a warning sign for pet owners.

Quarriers Warriors was formed in 2013 by Jayne Taylor-Savery and her partner Sandy Smith, who were both sexually abused by Quarriers staff as youngsters in the 1950s.

They campaigned for three years to have missing gravestones marking the final resting place of children who died at the orphanage restored.

Jayne told The Gazette: “Quarriers have had more than enough time to complete this work.

“It took us long enough to persuade them to replace the headstones and now this.

“They promised us last September they would put signs up and springs on the gates of the graveyard to keep dogs out but are now telling us they have no intentions of doing so.

“They apologised for not having graffiti removed from the plaque and assured us that work would be done as soon as possible.

“They have had a year to get the work done and the additional names added to the plaque but there’s been nothing.”

Headstones were mysteriously removed from the children’s graves in the 1960s but Quarriers agreed to restore them after the campaign by Jayne and Sandy.

A total of 155 headstones containing the children’s names were erected last year.

Sandy, who lives in Bridge of Weir, said: “It saddens us to see that no further work has been done, as promised.

“We feel very let down and angry at this.”

Thousands of children are said to have been abused at Quarriers Homes between the late 19th century and 1980s.

Sandy and Jayne, both 68, were abused after being taken into the orphanage at the age of five in the 1950s.

By the time Sandy left shortly before his 10th birthday, he had been raped four times by staff.

The couple met seven years ago on a Facebook site for former Quarriers victims.

Bosses at Quarriers insist they remain committed to making improvements at Nittingshill Cemetery.

Dr Ron Culley, the charity’s chief executive, said planned work had to be postponed as the country went into lockdown.

He told The Gazette: “Following the service of remembrance arranged by Quarriers in September 2019 to mark the installation of the headstones, we started the process of finding a supplier to add additional names to the plaque and to remove graffiti.

“This work was due to start from April 2020 and unfortunately had to be put on hold due to the global coronavirus pandemic.

“Now we are in phase three of the coronavirus lockdown easing, we are in the process of rearranging this work.”

Dr Culley said that, as some lockdown restrictions remain in place, he does not have “a definitive timescale” for work to be carried out.

He added: “We remain committed to adding the names to the plaque and removing the graffiti. We will consider additional items such as signage, gate springs and Perspex.”

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